About this IMS Online Hybrid Retreat

Thursday, December 14, 2023 - Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Registration for this program is closed. 


This online retreat experience will be a livestream of the onsite Heartfelt Wisdom: Insight Meditation Retreat with Pascal Auclair, Devin Berry and Marjolein Janssen. Meditation instructions and Dharma talks will be broadcast live from the IMS Meditation Hall. There will also be an opportunity to attend practice group discussions with the online support teachers - Rachel Lewis and bruni dávila. (Note that there is no direct interaction, including practice discussion, with the onsite teachers.)

Can the qualities of friendliness, care, courage, joy and balance create the right conditions for the deepening of wisdom? Or are they simply beautiful expressions of it? Or both? While silently sitting and walking with meditative presence, and with guidance from the teachers, we can open more fully to the life both around us and inside of us. Through the quality of this connection, we can discover for ourselves how living with a sense of fullness and engagement might be possible. This retreat is open to all.

This retreat begins on Thursday, December 14 at 7:00 pm ET and concludes Tuesday, December 19 at 12:00 pm ET. A full home retreat schedule and instructions will be offered. 

Meet Your Teachers

 Pascal Auclair has been immersed in Buddhist practice and study since 1997, sitting retreats in Asia and America with revered monastics and lay teachers. He has been mentored by Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield here at the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) and at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California, where he now teaches retreats. Pascal teaches in North America and in Europe. He is a co-founder and Guiding Teacher at True North Insight in Canada.


Devin Berry is an IMS Core Guiding Teacher. A meditator since 1999, his practice is primarily informed by the metta and vipassana teachings of the Insight Meditation tradition. He has undertaken many periods of silent long-term retreat practice. Devin is committed to the personal and collective liberation of marginalized communities knowing that through the integration of reflection and insight, clarity and wisdom give rise to wise action. Devin is the father of 2 children. www.devinberry.org

bruni dávila has practiced Vipassana and Zen since 1995. A student of Andrea Fella and Gil Fronsdal, she practices and teaches at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA, and also teaches Dharma in Spanish in the wider Bay Area. She is currently a participant in the 2017-2021 IMS Teacher Training Program. bruni dávila, originaria de Puerto Rico, emigró a los Estados Unidos continental en 1991. Ella ha practicado la meditación introspectiva/insight en las tradiciones Vipassana y Zen desde 1995. bruni es estudiante de Gil Fronsdal y Andrea Fella, y enseña en español e inglés en  Insight Meditation Center en Redwood City, CA, y a varios grupos en el Área de la Bahía. bruni participa en el Programa de entrenamiento 2017-2021 para Maestros del Insight Meditation Society (IMS). Para una lista de charlas del dharma en español, visiteaudiodharma.


Marjolein (pronunciation “Mar-yo-line”) Janssen is originally from the Netherlands. Since 2011 she has been practicing insight meditation intensively in Europe, the US, as well as Myanmar, where she was ordained as a Buddhist nun. Marjolein brings both formal practice and practice in daily life to her teachings. She seeks to offer a practical approach to Buddhist concepts and ideas. Her sharing of the Dharma comes from her wish to contribute to the freedom and happiness of all beings. Marjolein is a graduate of Sati Center’s Buddhist Eco-chaplaincy program. She is currently enrolled in the Insight Retreat Center’s Dharma Teacher Training.


Rachel Lewis is a participant in the 2017-2021 IMS Teacher Training Program, as well as a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioners Program and Community Dharma Leaders training. She began practicing meditation while completing her physics PhD at Yale. She has spent over 450 nights on silent retreat since 2003, including two three-month retreats. She developed a songbook of Buddhist music including her own choral arrangements of traditional chants. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Insight World Aid. She has taught classes and retreats in British Columbia since 2010, including at a prison and in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side. Learn more on Rachel’s website: rachelmeditates.ca


More Information

  • Equity Pricing Model

    As one part of our ongoing effort to expand access to the teachings of the Buddha, all IMS Online programs feature equity-based registration fees, including the opportunity to self-select a low-cost scholarship rate. No-fee enrollment is available for those who request a fee-waiver at [email protected], no questions asked. Our system supports the cultivation of a dynamic and inclusive community and is made possible by our generous donors and those who choose to support other students by contributing at the “Benefactor” level.

  • Registration Deadline

    Registration for this program closes on December 7, 2023 at 5PM ET.

  • Program Recordings

    This program will be recorded and made available for on-demand viewing after the live sessions. On-demand videos will be available to registered participants for 90 days.

  • Additional Questions

    If you have additional questions please contact us at [email protected].